Dispute with BCCI forces Sky commentators to work from 'home' for Ahmedabad Test

Friday 16 November 2012

For the first time in 23 years, Sky cricket was forced to commentate on an England Test match off tube rather than from the venue due to a dispute with the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI).

The BCCI has asked for a reported 500,000 pounds to allow the channel into the grounds for the four-Test series in India, but Sky declined, so only the host broadcaster Star Sports is allowed entry, the Guardian reports.

In a sense, the team of Sir Ian Botham, Nasser Hussain and the rest were working both from home and the office, the paper said.

They all looked surprisingly chipper for men who had been ripped from their sleep in the mezzanine hours even Botham, who frequently jokes about going to bed at 3am, it added.

The paper further reported that there were no significant hitches, and no dramatic moments off camera that the commentators could not see, one of the principal risks of off-tube coverage.

The only Sky commentator in India is Michael Atherton; with no cameras allowed in the stadium, he had to schlep a few hundred yards to a nearby car park to discuss the match before play and during the intervals, it said.